Preparing for Your Visit

Directions. Give yourself plenty of time to reach us and make sure you and your driver know where you’re going before you set out on the journey. If you are self-navigating, it is really hard to find your way here after dark. There’s no lighting on the back country roads that lead to us. GPS and cellphone signal is very spotty along the way, so download maps ahead of time.

Cash. At least enough to pay the rest of your bill and for your dinners at the restaurant next door. There are no ATMs in Macheros and we don’t take credit cards. Either USD or MXN or any combination thereof are fine.

Warm clothes. We are located at a high altitude, so it gets chilly here in the evening in the valley and sometimes up on the mountain during the day. There is no indoor heat, so be prepared. Layers, hoodies, fleeces, scarves, hats, etc. can come in handy.

Good hiking shoes with traction. Cerro Pelón can be a slippery mountain otherwise. Converse really don’t cut it. Fashionable shoes can be dangerous.

Water bottle. Bring your own to refill and help us to reduce plastic bottle trash.

Sun protection. Like sunscreen and a hat. It’s easier to burn at altitude. We’re at 2,400 m, and the butterflies are up above 3,000 m.

Earplugs, if you’re a light sleeper. Country dogs get barky at night. Roosters do not only crow at dawn. And sometimes on Saturdays the cousins like to tie one on at the cantina and shout over the Vicente Fernandez on the jukebox.

Patience. Understand that we are located in an under-served area of rural Mexico. Cellphone coverage is minimal. Often the internet towers we had built to relay us the signal from across the county lose power and the internet goes down. If we have it, we’re happy to share it with you. If we don’t, we’re frustrated too, but there’s not much we can do. Sometimes our power goes out too, for hours or even days. Power outages are unusual during the dry season, but not unheard of. So keep your devices charged and be ready to appreciate candlelight if necessary.

But you don’t need to bring:

Food, drink, or water; we have a variety of these items on hand and for sale at our place, at the restaurant next door and in the storefronts that numerous local families run out of their houses.